"irrelevant pre-teen shooter"
It may be hard to believe now, but when StarFox
first hit the Super Nintendo, over twenty years ago, the franchise was
actually cool. All the trendy kids played StarFox. Move on to the
present day, though, and the series has become a byword for poorly
written, totally unnecessary dialogue and annoying characters.
StarFox 2 was famously so bad, in fact, that
Nintendo never even bothered to release it, despite being virtually
complete.
The main problem is Nintendo’s shift towards
younger gamers and their perceived need for change.
Given most major PS4 and Xbox One releases are
18-rated, it may make sense for Nintendo to aim their titles at
youngsters, but in doing so Nintendo have alienated the people who grew
up with them – some of their most passionate fans.
The original SNES game played almost like a classic
2D shooter, albeit in 3D. Additions like the full 3D dog-fighting mode,
and various new vehicles were never really needed. By creating new rival
characters, and excessive dialogue, Nintendo inadvertently turned the
game into a child’s puppet show.
When Nintendo announced StarFox Zero hopes were
high that Nintendo would return to the fast paced, on rails shooter we
grew up with. A much needed reboot of the series. Instead StarFox Zero
seems to continue down the path of irrelevant pre-teen shooter.
